Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

Facing a projected budget deficit, the State Legislature might consider eliminating one expenditure:  the cost of incarcerating people charged with the sale or possession of controlled substances.  According to figures furnished by the Hennepin County Library, in the year 2000 there were 903 people imprisoned for the sale or use of drugs.  Since they were not incarcerated for crimes of violence, they would pose no threat of danger to ordinary citizens upon release.  The annual cost of maintaining an individual in a Minnesota state penitentiary in 2001 was $36,836 according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report of June 2004.

Today there are probably more than 903 people incarcerated and the maintenance cost has no doubt increased.  The state would save more than $33 million.

Polly Mann